page_title: Golden swallow
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Golden swallow / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: «&#160;Hirundo sclateri&#160;» = Tachycineta euchrysea sclateri (Subspecies of Golden Swallow) Français&#160;: «&#160;Hirundo sclateri&#160;» = Tachycineta euchrysea sclateri (Sous-espèce de Hirondelle dorée)
context_page_description: The golden swallow is a passerine in the swallow family, Hirundinidae. Two subspecies are recognised, the extinct Jamaican golden swallow and T. e. sclateri of Hispaniola. It usually inhabits the hills on the interior of islands, preferring open country. Currently, this swallow is restricted to isolated montane forests that primarily consist of the Hispaniolan pine. This species is considered to be a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature; the nominate subspecies, T. e. euchrysea, is extinct. The exact cause of extinction is unknown, but likely factors include predation by introduced mammals and habitat loss, although the habitat loss theory is not supported by much evidence. The last sighting of the nominate subspecies was in Hardwar Gap, with three birds being seen on 8 June 1989.
  A relatively small swallow, the Jamaican subspecies had bronze upperparts and bronze sides of the head. The ears and lores were duller and the forehead area was more green than bronze. The shoulders, back, rump, and uppertail-coverts were, on the other hand, a coppery-bronze colour.
context_section_description: A small swallow, the golden swallow measures, on average, 12 cm (4.7 in). The adult of the nominate subspecies' upperparts, including the sides of the head, the cheek, and the chin, are an iridescent bronze. The ear coverts and lores are duller, and the forehead, crown, and nape are more green. This contrasts with the golden or coppery-bronze colouring of the mantle, shoulders, back, rump, and uppertail-coverts. The lesser and median-coverts are more coppery, with the greater and primary wing-coverts being more green and dusky. The edges of the greater coverts and tertials are more golden. The primaries, secondaries, tail, axillaries, and underwing-coverts are dusky bronze-green, with the axillaries and underwing-coverts having this colour only on the edges. The tail is only slightly forked on the nominate subspecies, unlike the more deeply forked tail of the other subspecies, sclateri. Its underparts are white, with dusky bronze streaks on the flanks. The legs and the feet are dark brown and the bill is black. Its irides are also dark brown. The female is similar, although some of the underparts, specifically the breast and occasionally the throat and undertail-coverts, are mottled grey-brown. The mottling around the breast and collar is likely to decrease over time. The juvenile, like the female, is mottled grey-brown. The juvenile also has less glossy plumage and the sides of its head are a dusky grey.
  The other subspecies, sclateri, has slightly longer wings and a smaller bill. The plumage is less golden, with the forehead and uppertail-coverts being blue-green, and with both the wings and tail being blue-black. The underparts of T. e. sclateri also vary in being pure white without streaks.
  This bird has a soft, two-note call, often described as a tchee-weet, that is repeated.
caption: Sketch of the subspecies T. e. sclateri
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